Surprise
by Travon203
Summary: Based off of Season 3 finale; Emily resigns after Kirkman is reelected but comes back to DC three years later with a surprise that will definitely shock everyone. (Emron)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**: I hoped you guys finished watching season 3 because it's based off the season finale. Instead of Isabel, Emily is pregnant with Aaron's child and he doesn't knock until years later. I hope you guys enjoyed and let me know what y'all think. Thanks!

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A month after Kirkman won reelection, Emily gave him her resignation because she had a secret that would greatly impact his administration. That secret was Alexandra Carrie Rhodes, (Alex for short). She was named after the late First Lady, who had always made Emily feel like she was a part of their family and her mother, who had recently passed away. It had been almost four years since she left and she never looked back. Since their night of "crisis and alcohol-fuel mistake" with Aaron and the positive pregnancy test, she knew that being pregnant with the Vice President's child would have brought unproportionable scandals and rumors that would have ruined the image of the White House. So Emily did the only thing she could do to protect both herself and her kid. She quit and moved back down to Florida, where she could live a relatively normal life. If she had stayed, then everyone would have noticed the growing belly in four months, and certain people would have put the pieces together, namely Aaron. She wanted to tell him, but he was vice president now. He was always being watched and getting a girl pregnant would have ruined him and his status. As far as she knew, Aaron was still with Isabel.

Emily still kept in touch with Seth from time to time, him filling her in with what's been happening in the White House after she left. He was the only one who knew the truth as to why she left, including the fact that Aaron was the father. He had implored her to tell Aaron before, but she refused. Eventually, he respected her wishes in not telling Aaron. Seth flew down to see Emily and Alex once, about two years ago. He could see that Alex had Aaron's curly hair and Emily's smile. She was honestly adorable. Since then, they've video called almost every week. Alex was getting so big for a two-years-old. She was learning new words everyday and running around full of excitement. Motherhood suited Emily in ways that she did not expect.

"Why don't you fly up to DC for a couple of days? It'll be like a vacation," Seth said. He wanted to see Emily and Alex again but he didn't have the time to fly down to Florida.

"Trust me, it's not a vacation when you're traveling with a two-year-old who loves tantrums and whining," she said trying to feed Alex a jar of mashed peaches. The little girl was trying to avoid the spoon aiming for her mouth. Instead she tried to push her mother's hand away. "Come on, Alex. You've gotta eat."

"Come on, she misses her Uncle Seth. You guys can come stay with me and we'll hang out and you know... do stuff," he joked. She smiled.

"I'll think about it," she said.

She did miss DC in some ways. However, she didn't know if it was a good idea to bring Alex up there as well. She couldn't handle the possibility of seeing Aaron. It would just be too much. But it would be good to see the Capitol again and all...

After she finished up feeding Alex and putting her down for her nap, Emily went on her laptop to look up any upcoming flights to DC. After booking the first flight for Friday morning, she decided to go prepare for her flight in two days. She immediately texted Seth that she was coming to which he responded with a smiling emoji.

She bought the next two days, buying the essentials at Target, hoping that she wouldn't forget anything else for Alex. It took her an hour on Friday morning to get out of the house and to the airport on time. Alex was not used to waking up early for any reason so she was out of sorts. The plane ride consisted of burst of cries, resulting in Emily receiving some glares from nearby passengers. She couldn't do anything to soothe Alex, which further aggravated her cries. Thank goodness the flight was only two and a half hours long. Any longer and she would have been done for.

Seth picked them off at the airport, both hugging each other before Seth noticed the little girl in the stroller.

"Hi, Alex. It's your Uncle Seth. Welcome to Washington, D.C.," he said Alex, giving her a little wave. "How was the flight?"

"Torture because someone here was a bit more fussy than usual," she said.

"Well let's go grab some breakfast before I head into work. Then I'll give you my keys to my apartment," he said.

"Alright," she said walking the stroller to his car.

They sat down at a small café nearby the White House, enjoying their breakfast pastries while Alex had a nice bowl of small individual pieces of fruit. She loved playing with food in her hand, especially crushing them and smearing it all over her shirt. Emily always remembered to bring a bib and an extra outfit for situations just like this.

"Alex, no no. You're gonna ruin your outfit," Emily said wiping her daughter's hands. She looked over to Seth. "So what's been going on with work?"

"Same old, same old. Same bullshit questions from the same bullshit journalists. Whatever happened to real journalism? All anybody cares about these days is gossip," he ranted while sipping his coffee.

"That's what happens when America cares too much our VP and his newly engaged fiancé," she said. "Speaking of which... how is he?"

"He's, um..., good," Seth simply said, not knowing if Emily wanted details or not.

"And...?"

"What do you want me to say, Em? The place hasn't been the same since you left so it's off. He's off. There have been times where he's spinning around and has no idea what he's doing. Please come back here. You can bring the White House back to what it was before."

"I can't. And you know why."

"So? He doesn't have to know. Just say you had a personal crisis and now you're good. I know you miss it here. The job, the excitement..."

"Even if I did come back, what about Alex? How am I supposed to explain to her that she would be living next to her father two miles away?"

"She's two years old. She's not gonna care."

"You know what I mean. Plus, I would have to go find a place, meaning that I would have to fly back and forth."

"You could come stay with me," he offered. "Just think about it. You belong here." He looked at his watched and realized that he was late. "Let's finish this conversation later, okay? I've gotta go."

He handed her his keys and said his goodbye to Alex. Emily wondered if Seth was right, that maybe she really did miss the job more than she cared to admit. But if she was going to ask to President to hire her again, then she would have to tell him the truth. The truth that would probably hurt him as well.

After they finished their breakfast, Emily and Alex went to Seth's apartment to drop off some of her stuff there and also putting Alex down for her nap. She didn't want to disrupt her daughter's routine especially after waking her up so early. After Alex was out, Emily turned on the TV to see Aaron on the news, shaking hands with the French prime minister. You couldn't notice it, but he had lost weight and the heavy bags under his eyes showed his sleepless nights. Standing next to him was Isabel, who was smiling at the camera, hooking her arm into his. Emily thought that Isabel was the type who wanted to do more, not be some arm candy for someone, even if that someone was the Vice President of the United States of America. She heard that Isabel turned down the Deputy Chief of Staff position that Harper offered her and instead wanted to show support by attending certain events or charity dinners.

After Alex woke up from her one-hour nap, Emily took her daughter out to the park across the street from the White House. She watched Alex play on the slides and then moving on to the swings. These were the moments that Emily enjoyed as a mother. Alex's playfulness reminded her a little bit of Aaron, finding the joy in the little things.

After some much careful thinking, Emily decided to take Alex to visit the White House. It wasn't to see Aaron or anything like that. It was more of wanting to see the President and pay her respects to him. If she was going to ask him for a job back at the White House, she should do it now before it's too late. So she sent Seth a text to issue her a pass and that she'll be there in ten minutes.

She breathed in the White House air, remembering what it felt like before. It felt invigorating. Seth brought them back to his new office, receiving a "promotion" that really had no benefits except having a slightly larger office with more decorative posters.

"Does the President know I'm here?"

"Yes, he does. He said he wanted to have dinner with you tonight."

"Did you tell him about...?" she glanced over at Alex, who conked out after exhausting herself out at the playground.

"Yes..." he winced in fear.

"Seth!"

"I'm sorry, but he wanted to know why his former Chief of Staff wanted to see him after all these years. And it seemed like he looked hurt. Plus, everyone already saw you walking in with her. It was gonna get back to him anyways."

"I guess you saved me the work of telling him. Wait, does he know who the father is...?"

"No, that one's on you."

"Okay, good."

"Are you gonna tell him?"

"I might as well, right? If I'm going to ask him for a job?"

"It's up to you, but I think he would just be glad that you're back."

"You just said that he looked hurt!"

"But come on, you're the Kirkman whisperer. He needs you."

"We'll see..."

Once it was 7pm, Emily, Alex, and Seth headed over to the private residence to have dinner with Kirkman. When she walked into the room, she saw the president standing in front of her with a glass of scotch in his hand.

"Mr. President," she said.

"Emily. It's been too long," he walked towards her and hugged her. "Well, who is this?" he said saying hi to the little girl in her arms.

"This is my daughter, Alex," she said, looking up at Kirkman who seemed in awe of her daughter.

"Alex... Thank you, Emily."

"I couldn't think of a better name, sir."

After the three of them reminisced about old times for an hour, Emily glanced over at Seth, who knew it was his cue for her and the President to talk privately. He took Alex out for a walk, promising to get her some ice cream.

"My god, Emily. She is amazing," Kirkman said.

"Thank you, sir."

"I've forgotten how good it was to have you here," he said sipping his scotch. "What do you think about coming back?"

"Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I was wondering if I even could come back especially since it's been so long..."

"Emily, I would love nothing more. But you know, your old position is taken. How about the one before that? What do you say? Be my special advisor again?"

"I would say I serve at the pleasure of the president," she said earning a smile from him. After a pause, she decided to bring up the elephant in the room. "I'm sure you have questions about Alex."

"I don't want to pressure you into saying anything you're not comfortable with."

"No, it's okay. You and I have always been close so I feel like I owe you this."

"Alright. I guess the first one is who is the father?"

"Aaron or I guess Vice President Shore..."

"Jesus, Em! You've gotta be kidding. Do you know what would happen if the press found out about it?" his anger level rising.

"I know, trust me. It was just a drunken mistake, but it is what it is. We're here now."

"Does he know...?"

"No, he doesn't."

"Emily..." he said at a loss of words.

"If I told him, what good would it have done? He's with Isabel now and I wasn't going to complicate his life like that and force to have to secretly spend time with his daughter like that. I didn't want her to grow up like that. To always have to wonder why her dad isn't always with her."

"You know you're going to have to tell him if you are going to start working here again."

"I know... But how would I even start? 'Hey, you have a two-year-old daughter from our one night stand'?"

"Just start with the truth and go from there."

"Thank you, sir."

After they finished up their conversation, Emily met up with Seth and Alex and they went back to Seth's apartment. She gave Alex a bath and put her to sleep before walking into the living room. She grabbed a beer from the coffee table and sat next to Seth on the couch. She had told him what happened with Kirkman and he was glad that she got her job back. They then talked about her living situation, Seth letting her and Alex to keep staying in his guest bedroom until she can find a place. He then headed off to bed, giving Emily a chance to decompress from the day's events. Afterwards she went to throw her beer in the garbage and was about to go to bed when she heard the knock on the door. She opened the door to see Secret Service agents asking to look through the premises. Standing in front of her was someone she didn't expect to see so soon.

"Aaron?"


	2. Chapter 2

Emily stood in the middle of the doorway, still startled that the Vice President was standing in front of her at 10pm. Aaron was here. _Her_ Aaron. He had taken off his tie and unbutton the top button of his dress shirt. He seemed a bit more laxed, being in her presence.

"Aaron, what are you doing here?" she said after shaking herself out of her thoughts.

"You know, it's Mr. Vice President," he joked, walking into Seth's apartment. "I heard that an old friend was here and I wanted to see her, after she skipped out on us three years ago. For reasons I still don't understand." He proceeded to sit down at the couch

Emily smiled, not sure what to do, and followed him. "Yeah, I'm going to be in town for a couple days. Just spending time with Seth."

"And the president," he said, a look of hurt appeared on his face for not inviting him to reunion as well.

"I'm sorry. It was a spur of the moment thing. And I also didn't know where we stood..."

His eyebrows contracted and his head slightly turned at the statement, "Why wouldn't we be? Unless we're talking about what happened three years ago..."

"No, no, that's not what I me-," she wanted to say more but then was interrupted by Alex's loud cried. "Uh oh." She left Aaron on the couch to go tend to Alex.

Aaron sat, dumbfounded, unsure if he had just a baby cry from down the hall. He waited a minute before Emily walked out, holding a child in her arms. From first glance, the little girl looked a lot like Emily.

"Emily..." he, similar to Kirkman, was also at a loss of words.

"Aaron, this is Alex," she stated. "My daughter."

"Oh my god," he said. He put his hand out to touch the little girl but she decided to hide herself into Emily's shoulders.

"Sorry, she's not in the greeting mood. Normally she would sleep through the night but I guess she's not used to being here."

Aaron smiled at them, but still internally processing the fact that she had a daughter. Then he realized that he hadn't asked the question yet. "Is she...?"

Emily knew what he was alluding and she easily placated his worries, "No, don't worry. The father is umm … he's just not in the picture right now."

The panic that rose inside his chest now relinquished him from the worries, feeling relieved that he was not... That he just wasn't. "Oh, thank goodness."

Emily saw his relief and thought that maybe that sigh was a good thing. That he didn't want this. That she didn't have to feel guilty about him missing out on Alex's firsts. "Yeah..."

"So motherhood has been treating you good then?"

Emily nodded, "Yeah, something like that. Some good days, some bad days." She kissed her daughter's cheek.

"Is she why you left?"

"No, it wasn't just her. After the election, I saw how corrupted Washington was and I didn't want to work for a place like that. Especially when everything changed. Kirkman isn't the same man as he was before. And neither am I..." she explained with Aaron attentively listening to her every word.

"I heard that you might be coming back."

"I'm still dealing with logistics of it. Like finding a nanny for Alex. But I don't want her to grow up with a workaholic mom. I've also gotta go find a place because Seth isn't a long-term option."

Aaron nodded, knowing that having a child does change everything. "I can help you out with the nanny stuff. You know... background checks, interviews, all that..."

Emily smiled at his offer, "Thank you, but it's alright. I can handle that myself." After a slight awkward pause, she asked about Isabel. "How's Isabel doing, now that you're engaged?"

"She's good. Yeah, we're good." Emily wasn't totally convinced that Aaron meant it. She could see it in his eyes that he wasn't as enthusiastic about the engagement as he seemed in the tabloids.

"Aaron? Come on, it's me. Really, what's going on?"

"Alright. So we're not working out as well as I had hoped. We've tried everything. Counseling, spontaneous date nights, gratefulness exercises... Everything!" the rise in his voice startled Alex, who had barely begun to fall asleep in her mother's arms. "Sorry."

"I'm sorry it's not working out," she said, unsure of what else to say.

"Me too," he said dejectedly.

They kept talking for another hour until Aaron looked at his watch, realizing that it was near 1 in the morning. By then Alex was sound asleep in Emily's arms. She went to go put Alex back to bed before walking Aaron out.

"Thanks for listening to me," Aaron said, pulling her in for a hug.

"Of course, now and forever. I got you," she said.

She opened the door and watched as he and his team of Secret Service agents walked with him. Although she had forgotten what it had been like to talk to Aaron like old times, she knew that part of their conversation had grabbed part of her feelings, ones that she had no desire to bring back up when she knew it was not going to go anywhere. It can't.

Aaron went back to his residence to find his fiancé still awake in bed. She was reading a book, a glass of wine of on her nightstand.

"You waited up for me?" he asked, taking off of his jacket and belt.

"Did you enjoy yourself? Have a good time?" she asked, jealousy growing in her tone. Aaron didn't answer so she continued on, "Secret Service told me where you were after I had to threaten to fire them. Twice!"

Aaron had told her about him and Emily about two weeks after election day after feeling guilty about how much she had supported him during the campaign. What Aaron had told Emily was only partially true, that they did try to repair their relationship but it didn't work. So Isabel had one condition if they were going to keep this up. It was that she got to have a private life, including private relationships with anyone she wanted. That took him by surprise at first, but he had no choice to give in to her demand if they wanted to keep up appearances.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Really? We're gonna do this?" she huffed. "Fine. Emily."

Still, after all this time, Isabel was still insecure about Aaron and Emily's relationship, or really (lack of it). Aaron set his watch and wallet on his nightstand. "Nothing happened. And why do you care? Aren't you still having some fun with … what's his name... Scott?"

"It's none of your business who I spend time with. And we're talking about the woman you cheated on me."

"Yeah, which happened three years ago. And speaking of which, she has a kid. So you've got nothing to be worried about."

"Excuse me? Did you just say that she has a kid? Oh god... Please don't tell it's yours. Because if it is, we are done. Done! You hear me?" she shouted from across the room.

Aaron clenched his fist and faced her, "No, it's not mine. And why are you still jealous of her? It was just one drunken mistake. Isi, I have apologized over and over again for the past three years. I've let you be and done whatever the hell you want. What more could you possibly want from me?"

"I don't want anything from you. Because I don't need it. You need me. That's why the only reason I'm still here."

Aaron shook his head, "No, I don't. If you want to go, then go."

"Then tell me who's going to get you your votes for the upcoming Senate bill on child-bride marriages?" Aaron continued to stared at her before looking down at the floor, knowing that he had lost this battle. "That's what I thought."

Emily and Alex spent a couple more days spending time around the White House. She had dinner again with Kirkman, Aaron and Seth one last time before she headed back to Florida. Alex mostly enjoyed spending time with her Uncle Seth, except when a few of the nights got too cold and she wasn't used to change in temperature. Aaron and Emily exchanged their numbers before she left, putting her in more contact with him than she expected.

A week later, Aaron called Seth into his office. Seth thought it was weird for the Vice President to call the Press Secretary into a meeting, when he wasn't even sure what this conversation would be about.

After Aaron's assistant led him into Aaron's office, Seth greeted him. "Good afternoon, Mr. Vice President."

Aaron was finishing up some paperwork when Seth entered. He put his pen down and stood up. He walked around the desk and leaned on top of it. "Why didn't you tell me about Alex? You knew all this time and you never thought to mention something?" he asked bluntly.

"Wait, you know? Everything?" Seth's eyes widened.

"I think so."

"And you're okay with it? You're not mad?"

Aaron's eyes furrowed. "Why would I be mad?"

"Because if I found out that the woman I had a drunken one-night stand three years ago later came back into town with my kid, I would be pretty pissed." After some silence, Seth saw Aaron's blank expression and realized that he had made a tremendous mistake. "You didn't know that part, did you?" Aaron continued to stare at him. "Shit. Emily is going to kill me."

Aaron recomposed himself and attempted to remain calm in front of Seth, taking a deep breath and putting his hand on Seth's should, tightly squeezing it, "Seth, if you don't tell me everything right now, I'll make sure that you are fired and can never get a job anywhere in DC ever again so help me God."

Seth snickered, "I don't think you can do that." His slight joke caused Aaron to squeeze his shoulder even harder, provoking Seth to yelp out in pain. "Okay, okay." He pushed Aaron's hand off his shoulder. "Fine, what do you want to know?"

"Everything. Right now. All of it. Starting with why she left. And you better not leave anything out."

While Seth finished explaining everything explicitly, he could see Aaron's expression change throughout the entire discussion. There were the typical levels of hurt and anger and rage, but then there were times he saw Aaron proud of her daughter's achievements and then sadness from missing all of her firsts. He left Aaron to sort out his feelings, advising him to talk to Emily. To which, Aaron reminded him that this conversation stayed between them.

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**A/N**: I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. The next chapter is going to be a good one. Or maybe the one after that. I haven't decided. But let me know what you think! Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

Aaron had kept the truth to himself for the next six weeks. Of those six weeks, he had only seen Emily once. She and Alex had to come back for a day to meet with Secret Service and then interview a few nannies as well. They had bumped into Aaron as they were in the hallways of the West Wing, staff members stopping by to admire how cute Alex was. By then, everyone had known about Emily and Alex, rumors spreading about who the father might be. Aaron wanted to grab dinner with her so they could talk but he had learned that she was leaving on the next flight out.

"Rain check?" she said, pushing the stroller as they walked in the narrow hallways. "It's just that we have to go home and pack for the move."

"Uhhh sure," he said, putting his hands in his pocket. He had spent the weeks before, trying to prepare what he would say to her including why she lied to him, causing him to miss out her daughter's life.

"Plus, once we move here permanently, we can have dinner then," she added.

He nodded. The next couple of weeks became torture for him. Knowing what he knew now made him miss Alex even more than he thought he would, given that he had barely interacted with her since that night. He just needed to seem them, to have them in front of him so he'd know he wasn't imagining it. So on a whim, he decided to go down to Florida. Kirkman found out about the recent change of plans and asked him if something was happening in that area.

"Nothing you should worry about," Aaron said.

Kirkman took a moment to think of response, "You wouldn't be happening to see Emily, would you? If not, why else hide your travel plans?"

Aaron knew the jig was up and looked around the Oval Office before admitting his true motives, "I know you know." Seth had told him that only he and Kirkman knew about the truth. After receiving some looks of confusion from Kirkman, he furthered clarified, "About Alex."

Kirkman realized what Aaron was talking about and nodded his head. "And what do you plan on doing?"

"I can't believe that you out of all people could think it was alright to keep this from me."

"Excuse me? Tread lightly here, Aaron."

"I thought you were a man of truth and integrity. You knew she was my child and you didn't say a damn thing!" Aaron said out of pented up frustration.

"Emily wanted to protect you. And for what it's worth, I think she did the right thing. You know it," Kirkman fired back. "She was doing what was best for not only you, but also for Alex."

Aaron took in his words, allowing them to sink as he left for Florida. Maybe Seth and the President was right in that Emily wanted to protect him, but that doesn't make what she did acceptable. He and the two Secret Service agents drove to Emily's house based on the address he got from Seth. When they stopped, Aaron got out of the car, surprised at where they lived. It seemed so "suburban-y" where families had regular jobs and kids could bike on the sideways. Maybe that's why she picked it here, because it was so normal. He noticed the front yard looked like it hadn't been tended to in weeks, with the tall grass creating a miniature wheat-like field. He spotted the cobwebs on the porch corners. He rang the doorbell and as it opened, he saw Emily in her jean shorts with a black tank top on. She looked like she had been sweating from the humid air.

"Aaron, what are you doing here?" Emily startled from his appearance.

"Hi," he said. "Can I come in?"

"Umm, sure," she said opening the door wider to allow him in.

"Where's Alex?" he asked, walking around the living room, noticing all of the packed boxes in one pile.

"She's taking a nap right now. She should be up soon." After a untimely awkward pause, she had to ask him. "So... why are you here?"

"Right... Okay, umm how do I start this?" his heart rate rising. He didn't exactly plan out how to start this, after multiple attempts to even approach the subject.

"Start what?"

"Look I know about Alex. Everything. Seth told me."

He noticed the her reaction of guilt appear on her face. "What do you mean Seth told you? You know what, it doesn't matter. Aaron, let me explain..."

"No need. You lied to me. You said she wasn't mines. You had no right to keep my child from me!"

"Excuse me? I am her mother! Everything I have done is to protect her."

"Even from her father?"

"Yes!" she shouted.

Aaron stood there, shocked that she could even say that. "You know, despite how many arguments and disagreements we had over the years before, when it came down to it, we were on the same page. That we both knew what mattered and how it mattered. But this? I just don't... I don't understand how you could even do this."

"Aaron, what was I supposed to do? You have a life that is always going to under public eye where you and the people you care about are always going to be scrutinized. Think about it, our innocent child being in the news media for months because you and I made a mistake. I didn't want her to grow up thinking that she was unwanted or an embarrassment or the face of a scandal. And on top of it, she should be able to have a stable home, where she doesn't always have to ask why her dad isn't always with her. Trust me, I grew up with dad who abandoned me at a young age and she shouldn't have to grow up feeling like she wasn't enough."

Aaron sighed, registering that she just didn't want Alex to have a crappy childhood that she had. "Em, I'm not your dad. I'm not going to abandon her. Not now, not ever."

"I know. And I'm sorry for everything. You have to believe that this was not what I wanted."

"I know."

"So what happens now?"

Aaron ran his hand over the back of his head, not sure what to do as he had not thought that far ahead. "I guess everything stays the same with the exception of me coming over more often."

"It's not going to be that easy. We need a routine. A schedule that we can all stick to."

"I know. We'll work it out. Okay?"

"Okay."

They walked towards, closing the gap within each other and took each other in their arms. Neither of them knew why but it felt right. Afterwards, she offered Aaron and the Secret Service agents lemonade to cool down from the heat. Alex later had woken up from her nap, unsure of the new people in front of her.

"Hi Alex, this is your Papa. Can you say papa?" he greeted her. This time she was a bit more open to him. He held out his hands to hold, which she surprisingly obliged. "Yeah, you and I are going to be spending more time together, aren't we?" he said walking her around.

Emma watched him interact with Alex, seeing easy Alex was with him. Normally, she gave strangers a hard time. Or maybe she just knows that was her dad.

As the afternoon went by, Emily continued to pack while Aaron got to know their daughter. He noticed that Alex got his curls. She was adorable and loved telling him what to do, just like her mom. She directed him where to go and what she wanted, demanding cookies and juice.

As the evening went by, Emily prepared dinner by ordering takeout because her cooking was crap. She ordered Chinese takeout for the four of them while giving Alex a plate of cooked broccoli. When it was time for Aaron to go, he kissed Alex one last time, holding her and swaying her to his light humming. He then handed her to Emily. They stood at the door, holding each other's gaze.

"I'll see you next week?" he whispered.

"Yeah, we'll see you."

He nodded before heading towards his car. He turned to see Alex and Emily standing by the windows, watching him leave. He truly wished that he didn't have to leave. Playing house today was one of the most satisfying and rewarding moments of his life. It felt normal like it was meant to be; like being a father was something that he was meant to be, something that no one else could take away from him.

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**A/N:** Hi everyone, I want to thank y'all for the recent reviews. I really appreciate the responses. I'm hoping they renew Season 4 but yeah I wished there were more Emron scenes that went in the direction that we all wanted it to go.


	4. Chapter 4

**Warning: **I added details of Season 3 that technically should have happened before this story's events so it might or might not make sense. Sorry for any confusion!

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A month later, the three of them had settled into a routine that took great work to create. Emily had found a place about five minutes from the office so she didn't have to commute as far. She also decided to send Alex to daycare, making sure that she had the "flexible" hours to pick up and drop off Alex while being a good Chief of Staff to the President. As for Aaron, he was still getting used to the idea of being a father. It was once every two or three days that he would come over to Emily's apartment to spend time with Alex. It wasn't enough for him though. He wanted more than that, to see her more than twice a week. But he knew he couldn't, otherwise arousing suspicion where he spends his nights. Isabel had already been asking, which he deflected multiple times before.

"How was your night?" Isabel asked, getting ready for bed.

"Fine," he answered simply.

"How is she?"

"She who?"

"You know who..."

Aaron inhaled, already knowing where this conversation was heading. "Isi, please. Not tonight, okay?"

"Yes, tonight. Let's not act like I don't know that you spend half your nights with your mistress! At least have the decency to tell me the truth."

Aaron snapped, "She is not my mistress. It's not even like that!"

"Yeah right. She comes back to town with a kid after three years and you come home late almost every night. I'm not an idiot, Aaron! I know when you're lying. Just like when you said that wasn't your kid!"

He scowled and clenched his jaw before attempting to utter something he could not take back, "I didn't know at the time she was mine. But now that I do, what do you expect me to do? Ignore them?"

"Yes!" she yelled out.

He scoffed, "How am I supposed to do that? I see Emily everyday. And so, what if Alex is my kid? And I'm not talking about if the whole world knew. I'm talking about you. All these years you've been saying that I need you to stay so that we can pass this bill or show moral support and whatever crap you've told yourself in order to make this sound plausible. But it's not. If you want to leave, then leave."

"Maybe I will... But if I do, I'm taking you down with me."

Aaron shook his head, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"That means I want you to make sure next year's budget earmarks a $5 billion aid package for Puerto Rico."

"What? I can't do that. The time and effort it would take... where would we even get the $5 billion from?... Isi, you know I can't do that," he said, trying to figure out the logistics of this.

"Well if you don't, I'm going to set up an interview with CNN or CNBC or whatever news channel and tell the whole world of your infidelity and unfaithfulness to me. Yeah, some people might not care about that. Then again that might just be because men are bastards. But they will when they learn how you brought illegal immigrants across the border... Ruining your chances of ever running for public office again..."

"Isi, I was 16 years old. Come on... Please. There has to be something else I can do..." he pleaded.

"I'll give you a week to decide," she said simply. She walked away from him, packing up her essentials to move to the guest house.

Aaron was so angry, that his skin was changing to a slighter dark red tone. He could not believe that his fiancé had the guts to do this. How could he even get Puerto Rico $5 billion? They could barely get $5 million. And to cut it out of some departments like Agriculture or HUD would be too big a chunk and a loss of resources.

The very next day, he pulled in multiple staffers to get him an answer on the aid package. So far, the answer was that it was still very tight, depending on which departments they cut it out from and who Aaron had to go head to head with.

On his way to meet with the President, he saw Emily walking out of her office. He caught up to her and called out her name.

"Emily," he said, causing her to turn around.

"Aaro- sorry, Mr. Vice President," she said.

He smiled, "Hey, what are you up to right now?"

"I've got a meeting with State soon. Why?"

"No reason. How's Alex? I've missed her these past few days."

"She's good. She misses her dad too. She keeps waiting up on him to read bedtime stories to her."

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I've just been working on some stuff lately," he said vaguely.

Emily could tell something was up. He seemed more tired than usual and maybe it was just her, but she swore that he had more wrinkles on his face than before and possibly more white hairs. "You doing okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just tired, I think."

"Okay."

Aaron looked at his watch, realizing that it was time to go. "I have to go see the President." He then leaned in and whispered, "I'll come by tonight, okay?"

She nodded, "Yeah, sounds good."

Aaron then walked to the Oval Office, greeting the President, "Good morning, Sir."

"Indeed a good morning Aaron," Kirkman said with a hint of enthusiasm in his voice. "What can I help you with? My assistant said that it was urgent but you wouldn't say what it was about."

"Well, sir. I was thinking about next year's budget and wondered if we could expand our aid package for Puerto Rico."

"I'm sure we can reallocate some of the funds to Puerto Rico. What were you thinking of? $5 million?"

"Actually, sir I was thinking more of $5 billion."

Kirkman's eyebrows rose in shock, "Aaron, I think you're being too ambitious, and there's nothing wrong with that, but we have to realistic here. As much as I would love to give them that amount, there's no way we could even get it approved."

"My staffers have figured out which department to cut it from and who to talk to. Sir, it may work," he said not only convince the President, but also try to convince himself.

"Can I ask what brought this on this sudden push for Puerto Rico? I must say, I've never seen this from you."

"Isabel, sir. She uhh was telling me that Puerto Rico needs our help..." he said, the white lie not exactly being white.

"Okay, I'll see if we can get this ball rolling."

"Thank you, Mr. President."

Aaron walked out of the Oval Office, feeling a lot better than he did before. He prayed that this would work, knowing that it was going to be a long uphill battle. He spent the rest of his days, gathering opposition research on certain cabinet members whose arms he needed to twist. Afterwards he headed over to Emily's apartment.

"Hey, she's been waiting for you," Emily said when she opened the door.

"Me too," he walked to Alex's room. He found her in her bed all tucked in, playing with a stuffed bear.

"Hola Alex te he extrañado mucho," he said. "Listo para su cuento?"

Alex nodded. Emily watched as Aaron read her "Goodnight Moon". Within minutes, she fell asleep to her father's soft soothing tone. He turned off the light and left the door open a bit just in case. Aaron walked towards the couch when Emily offered him a beer.

"Thanks," he said grabbing the beer from her. "She's growing up so fast."

"I know. I remember when she was used to fit in my hand..."

"Can I ask you a question?" he said, turning his body towards her.

"Sure."

"Why did you keep the baby? You didn't have to... And I'm not saying that to be mean or anything. Just curious..."

Emily did not expect this. She had been dreading this type of conversation since he found out, not knwoing how to answer these questions. She took a sip of her beer before answering. "Well deep down I knew I always wanted kids. The whole idea of having a family. All that. But I'm the White House Chief of Staff, you know? The job always has to come first. I didn't have time to be a full-time mom." Aaron nodded before she continued on. "But weeks before we had our … you know... I had taken a DNA test to see if I had the genetic marker for cancer. I waited days before opening the letter because my mom had ovarian cancer and chances were likely that I had it too. I was so scared. And when I finally opened the letter, it turns out that I was right..."

"Em, I'm so sorry," he said rubbing her arm.

"Yeah, so when I found out that I was pregnant, I thought 'Wow, this could be my only chance of ever having a kid'. So I kept the pregnancy. And I'm glad I did because it gave me the best gift ever."

Aaron nodded. He couldn't believe that she had to go through all of that on her own. Worst of it being that he couldn't be there to help her out. He took Emily into her arms and kissed the top of her head. "I glad you did too."

He held her in his arms all night, both of them slowly drifting to sleep. He woke up at 5AM, thus woking her up too. Both of them startled that they fell asleep together even though nothing happened. He let himself out, shaking off whatever it was he was feeling...

* * *

**A/N:** Hey everyone, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry for a later posting than usual. I'm sort of getting writer's block and it's kinda hard to decide on where to take this story. If you have any suggestions, please put in in the reviews or PM me. Thanks!

Also when Aaron is talking in Spanish to Alex, he said "Hi Alex, I've missed you so much. Ready for your story?".


	5. Chapter 5

It was two days before Aaron had to answer Isabel's ultimatum. He was still trying to figure it out himself because he didn't want to bring anyone else into his marriage problems. Yet, he needed more time which Isabel wasn't willing to give to him. He talked to congressional committees, who gave him dodgy answers as to whether or not it could be done.

Aaron was too stressed out and losing lack of sleep, based on his bloodshot eyes and mood, snapping at his staff. Emily had noticed it too when he came over to spend time with Alex. He played with her and read her stories, then collapsed on the couch as if he just lifted a hundred pounds.

"Aaron, are you sure you're alright?" she asked with growing looks of concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said switching his glances between Emily and the news program on TV. Headlines were "Vice President Aaron Shore begins legislation for aid package for Puerto Rico".

"By the way, how's it going with that?" Emily asked. She thought he was doing a good thing for Puerto Rico. Maybe a little ambitious, but it never hurts to try.

"Not so great..." he stood up from the couch and went to go grab a beer from her fridge. "Agriculture won't budge unless they get one of their bills passed, which we can't do because we don't have the votes for it. Labor won't do it because he's an ass..." Aaron sighed.

"It'll take some time but I'm sure it will happen with the right type of persuasion," Emily said attempting to find the bright side.

"Time I don't have," he quietly muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing," he said, hoping she didn't hear that.

"Aaron... What is it that you're not telling me?"

He looked at her before deciding to go against his best judgment. "The aid package wasn't something that I just decided to do... It was more of a threat..."

Emily was taken aback at the thought of someone who would threaten the Vice President of the United States, "A threat from who?"

"Isabel," he said somberly. He was embarrassed to even say this aloud. His own "fiancé" threatening him. This was going to be one for the headlines if he didn't get this done.

"What? Are you sure? Why would she do this?" she asked in shock. "Wait is this because of …"

He nodded. Emily stood up from her seat and he grabbed her hand. "Emily wait."

"No, Aaron. I can't. This is exactly what I was afraid of. Putting our innocent daughter in our spotlight," she said. Her heart rate rose as he continued his grasp of her hand.

"I'm sorry, Em." The both of them stood close to each other to which Aaron leaned in to capture her lips for a kiss. He pulled her waist in and passionately kissed her, holding her cheeks. They continued to stay like that until Emily put her hand on his chest, signaling him to stop.

"Aaron, we can't do this," she said breathing heavily.

"Emily, come on. It's just us," he reminded her. "Alright?"

_Oh why the hell not? I've got nothing to lose now._ She nodded and took his hand into her bedroom.

* * *

The next morning, Emily woke up to Aaron watching her sleep while tracing patterns on her back. He seemed deep in thought, maybe possibly rethinking everything after last night. He then smiled at her, indicating that things were still good. She smiled, "Morning."

"Good morning," he emphasized.

"We should talk about last night," she brought up. He nodded. "As much as I want to have somewhat normal us, I don't want to be the other woman. I just can't spend my time wondering if I'm wasting my life waiting for something that may or may not even happy."

"You're not. Trust me, Em. Me and Isi were long over. It just took me a long time to realize that."

"Can you believe that it took us this long for us to even happen?"

"It could have been sooner, you know..."

Emily nodded. "So what happens now? If you don't do what she says?"

Aaron inhaled, "If I can't get the aid package by tomorrow then she's going to tell the whole world about you and Alex. And on top of it, Mariluz Santiago."

Emily knew this name before. Aaron had told her months before the election when she asked him about payments made to Mariluz Santiago. She had told him to keep it to himself, but she guessed he must have told Isabel when they were closer during their relationship. "But you were 16 years old. You didn't know any better."

"I know that. She knows that."

"Wait does the President know?"

"Parts of it. I haven't told him the whole story," he explained.

"If it doesn't work out, you should tell him before he finds out on his own and bite your head off," she warned.

"I will, but before I do, there's something else I have to take care of first," Aaron said as he got on top of her wrapped his legs around her. He began kissing her neck and moving downwards.

* * *

While Aaron took a shower, Emily walked into Alex's bedroom to find their daughter already awake in bed.

"Good morning, sweetheart," she said. Alex kicked off the blanket out of excitement and Emily pulled her up out of bed and carried into the kitchen. She grabbed some Cheerios and put it into a bowl so Alex could eat in her highchair. Aaron then came into the kitchen with a towel wrapped around his waist. Emily could see the steam come off of him. Alex then turned to see who had entered the room and noticed her father standing in the doorway. She then grabbed her cheerios and shouted out "Papa Papa" out of excitement. Her dad had never been there in the morning.

"Hi Alex," he smiled. "I missed you too." He kissed her forehead before turning towards Emily.

"Coffee?" Emily offered.

"Thanks," he said grabbing the cup from her while giving her another kiss.

"Mmmm," she moaned. "You should get out of here soon."

"Kicking me out already?" he said mildly offended.

She let out a slight laugh, "You know why..." She stepped closer to him and put her hand on his chest. "I just don't want anyone to think something's up."

"Trust me, Em. No one's gonna think that." He continued to kiss her again. "We do, technically, work in separate buildings anyway."

"Aaron, please. I see you all the time."

Aaron was about to say another rhetoric response, but Alex beat him to it by shouting out his name. She wanted attention since both of her parents were too busy taking in each other's presence instead of hers. He pulled her out of the highchair and blew raspberries on her stomach. The little girl laughed as loud as she could, bringing smiles to both Emily and Aaron.

After another twenty minutes, Aaron got ready to leave not before giving Alex another kiss goodbye and promising Emily that they would figure it out together. When he walked out of the door, he received certain looks from the Secret Service agents that had been outside his door all night. He brushed it off, knowing that they had no idea how happy he was in the moment. Or maybe they did...

On the drive to his office, Aaron scheduled a meeting with the President in the next. hour, intending to tell him everything. He walked to the Oval Office, preparing his statement in his head. There really was no perfect way to say that his fiancé blackmailed him into giving Puerto Rico $5 billion. As soon as he walked in, he could hear that the President was speaking to someone else. Shock being the understatement here.

"Hi honey," Isabel said smugly, her self-satisfied grin telling him everything he needed to know.

"Aaron, Isabel was just telling me about the aid package," Kirkman said. "I'm glad things are working out smoothly."

As the door to the Oval Office closed, Aaron could feel his tie suddenly chafing him and there was an unsettling feeling in him, telling him that she was purposely trying to sabotage him. "Thank you, sir." He awkwardly flashed a grin at them. _Oh boy._

* * *

**A/N:** Hey everyone, I'm so sorry for posting later than usual! Thank you for all of the reviews! I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. PM me or review if you have any ideas for me!


	6. Chapter 6

After their meeting with Kirkman, Aaron caught up to Isabel in the hallways. Isabel had wanted to inform the President on their project.

"Isi, what the hell was that?" he whispered, worried anyone might hear their conversation.

"Just making sure that you're doing what you're supposed to be doing," she said in a spiteful tone.

"Look, I'm working on it," he said. He sighed, not exactly sure how to say these next words. "Please Isi. Don't do this..."

"Tick tock, Aaron. Tick tock," she taunted as she walked away from him. She could care less about what he wanted.

To say that Aaron was irritated was an understatement. To her, this was probably a game. He never wanted to hurt her. He really didn't. But ever since Emily came back into town six months, all of the feelings he shoved down came back up again. Even before he knew about Alex, he could feel every part of his body twitch every time he would see her. By that time, he and Isi were not much of anything – except roommates. That's all they were.

When he stepped foot into his office, one of his analysts was waiting for him. The young staffer looked excited, holding a file in his hands.

"Sir, I think we've got it." He handed the file to Aaron.

Aaron's face scrunched up, "Excuse me? Got what?"

"I think we've got the votes. The bill is a go."

Aaron skimmed over the paperwork and then looked at the staffer. "Send this out right now. Make sure it's done before the end of business today."

"Yes sir."

Aaron was glad that he had at least one piece of business dealt today. He sent a text to Isabel saying that it was done and they should meet tonight. He wanted to make sure that he had her word that she wouldn't do anything else to ruin him.

Later Seth had come by to see his old friend (and also his superior) for a quick meeting. Even though Seth didn't technically work for him, Aaron still wanted his input for his upcoming speech for a conference in New York.

"It's all good, but just make sure you get your speech writers to fix the stuff I mentioned," Seth said as he finished overlooking the speech.

"Thanks, Seth."

"So... what's been going on with you and Emily?" Seth asked out of curiosity since Emily had not mentioned anything to him yet but he could tell she was different, as if something or _someone_ had lifted her spirits.

"Nothing," Aaron said rather too quickly and immediately shut his leather agenda planner.

Seth remained skeptical, "You know I was talking to Emily this morning and she seemed pretty happy..."

"_Happy_, huh?" he repeated. He was now grinning from ear to ear. That was a shock. He knew he was good but he didn't know that he was that good.

Shocked in disbelief when he realized what could have happened Seth said, "You didn't, didn't you?"

"That will be all for today. Thank you for coming in," Aaron deflected and stood up to slowly usher him out of the room. He knew Seth wouldn't say a word, but it didn't matter. Their "relationship" was still new. It was less than a day old even. He didn't want anything being said when he himself didn't know what exactly was happening. After all, he was still Vice President of the United States and people still saw him and Isi as America's favorite couple.

Later when Aaron went back to the residence to grab some clothes, he found Isabel standing in the middle of the living room. He was not expecting to see her so soon but he was glad that they could get this out of the way now.

"It's done, Isi. We're getting the legislation through and will be carried out tomorrow first thing," he said. "Now I want your word that you will not say a damn thing about me or Emily or Alex or Mariluz Santiago. I want you and all of your stuff out of here by the time I get back."

"You have my word," she said as she waited for him to turn around. "But Aaron, just know that Vice Presidents can be forced to step down at any time."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You'll see..."

Aaron had feared there was more to her plan, but he had no idea what.

After it was 9pm, he went over to Emily's place. He had two Secret Service details with him to avoid attraction but he still thought that two was too many already. Luckily Emily had rented a house so the agents could sit in the car and wait. It wasn't the most fun thing in the world, but this was what they signed up for.

Aaron rang the doorbell and waited as Emily unlocked the door and their eyes met. A smile fell on his face and walked inside. Despite the dark bags under her eyes and strands of her hair out of place, she still looked more beautiful than ever. He noticed from the glass of wine on the coffee table and White House files spread everywhere, that she was pulling an all-nighter tonight.

"Late night?" he asked.

"Yeah, we're still trying to work on Sudan," she told him.

"It's terrible what happened there."

"Yeah, it is."

He grabbed her hand into his and pulled her in for a kiss. "I missed you today." He gently put his forehead against hers and took in her scent.

She giggled, "I saw you this morning."

"That doesn't mean that I still don't miss you."

They remained together in each other's embrace until Emily lifted her head up and Aaron could something was off. She wasn't smiling anymore and instead had a blank expression on her face.

"What's wrong, Em?"

"What are we doing, Aaron?" she said, putting her hands onto his arms.

"What do you mean?" he shaked his head in confusion.

"Come on, you know what. Us. Are we even an _us_?"

"I don't know," Aaron said. "But I know this. I want you and only you. Em, this has been years in the making. I know this may sound a bit premature but to hell with that." He paused and inhaled for as long as he could. "Emily, I love you. And I know. We're barely getting started and that I'm still technically with Isabel. But tomorrow we'll be releasing a statement announcing that she and I are done. We can finally be together without any more outside complications." He took her hands to his lips and softly kissed them.

Through Aaron's little speech, Emily stood flabbergasted. The truth was that she loved him too, maybe she always did and it took her all these years to finally realize it. In that moment, Emily grabbed his face and pulled in him for a passionate kiss. Aaron broke off the kiss, with him in a trance, wondering what kind of kiss was this. "I love you too" was all she simply said.

Aaron leaned in again for another kiss and it deepened as he began to lift up her shirt. It would have gone even further had Alex not walked out into the living room to see both of her parents there.

"Papa?" Alex said rubbing her eyes.

Aaron turned around to hear the small voice and instantly smiled while walking to pick up his daughter. Emily blushed and fixed her shirt and walked towards them.

"Hi sweetie, what are you doing up?" Aaron said, glad that she didn't seem to be fazed by what her mother and father were doing before she walked it.

"It's hot," Alex simply said. Emily put her hand on Alex's forehead just to make sure that she wasn't coming down with anything.

"Hmm... you don't have a fever or anything," Emily said.

"Well let's get you some water to see if you feel better. Okay?" Aaron said, to which Alex nodded. He walked to the kitchen and grabbed a mug from the cupboards while balancing Alex on his other arm as he tried to fill up the cup. "Alright let's get you back to bed." He put her back in bed and sang her a lullaby to lull her to sleep. When he came back out to the living room, he saw that Emily went back to working on her files.

"Want to finish what we were doing before we were interrupted?" he said seductively, making his way to her.

She snorted, "There's no way we can continue after our daughter nearly caught us."

"Oh please. She's not going to remember." He sat behind her, putting his hands around her waist and kissing her neck. "At least come to bed with me."

"Fine, but only bed."

"Sure."

"I'm serious, Aaron. Only bed," she warned him.

"Okay," he chuckled.

They went into her bedroom where Emily had her back to him and Aaron put his arms around her. She took one of his hands close to her face while his other hand was stroking her hair. Emily exhaled, glad that she was now able to finally be happy. She wished they had more moments like this in the future.

The next morning, Emily reached out for Aaron but she could only feel the empty space on the bedsheets. As she walked down the hallway, she could smell an aroma coming from the kitchen. She walked in to see Alex happily in her high chair, repeatedly saying "ceral".

"Yes, sweetheart. I know it's cereal," Aaron said with his back to them, too busy putting the eggs and toast onto a plate. When he turned around to go grab a mug from the cupboards, he noticed Emily standing in front of him.

"Morning," he said. "Breakfast?"

"Sure." Emily walked towards the kitchen counter and saw the plate of food. "I didn't know you cooked."

"Just eggs and toast. And also coffee," he said giving her the cup of coffee. "How is it?"

Emily took a bite of the eggs, "It's good. You might have to start cooking for me everyday."

Aaron laughed, "Sure."

Aaron's personal phone then rang. Not many people knew his personal cell number, much less be calling at 7 in the morning. He handed Alex her juice before he answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Aaron, it's me Seth. Where have you been? The press has been calling asking for comments on the situation."

"What situation? Seth, what the hell are you talking about?"

"An hour ago, SLOTUS just gave a personal interview about your affair with Emily and how she got pregnant. You need to get here now."

Aaron immediately moved to turn on the TV where every major news outlet had the headline _"Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal 2.0"_. His anger levels rose as he watched parts of Isabel's interview, her shedding a few tears to sell her fiancé's betrayal.

He grabbed his coat and walked out of the house without saying a word to Emily. He slammed the door shut and got into the car, heading for the only place that could possibly help him now – the White House.

* * *

**A/N**: Hi everyone, I'm really sorry for the late post. Due to some personal issues, I will probably update every couple of days instead of earlier like usual. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

With the number of reporters growing by the minute, Emily decided to stay home and avoid any questioning. She had watched Isabel go on national television telling the whole world about Aaron and her. Part of her wanted to get her hands on Isabel so bad that she had to settle for yelling at the tv. The screen then moved to a live scene of Aaron walking into the White House.

_"It looks like Vice President Shore is now walking into the White House. How will he be addressing this scandal? Is Isabel Pardo telling the truth?"_

Emily pinched the bridge of her nose and willed the headache that was coming on. She didn't know what to do nor did she know what Aaron was going to do. She wondered how he was processing this when she was in already in a whirlpool of emotions.

Aaron clenched his jaws while silently thinking on his way to the White House. Isabel had given him her word. She promised. How could she do this? What was he supposed to do now? If he publicly admits that everything she said was true, he was done. But if he denied it, the risk of him being caught would increase and then he would look like a liar. There was no way out of it. Aaron did not have much of a plan but right now he needed to talk to the President.

He walked into the White House, shunning his face from the cameras as much as he could. But that was nothing compared to the disturbing looks of shock and/or disgust from the staffers. As soon as he walked into the Oval Office, he could tell Kirkman was enraged from the crossed arms and glaring arms.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Kirkman yelled at him, pacing back at him. "And where is Emily?"

"Sir, let me first say that I apologize for the embarrassment I have caused to this administration and I will resign effective immediately," Aaron declared, not daring to give Kirkman eye contact.

Mars Harper then walked in, "Oh good, you're here. Now let's get down to business. What the hell happened here?"

"Look, I stand by actions. It was years ago and there's nothing we can do to change it now."

"I don't care. Because of you, we are now a laughing stock to everyone. To Congress. To leaders around the world. To the guy halfway across the world watching this on TV while eating his dinner and thinking 'Man am I glad I don't live there'."

"Mars, I am still Vice President here. You will respect the chain of command here," Aaron shouted.

Harper scoffed, "Not for long. Right now, I need you to tell me. Is everything she saying the truth?"

"What has she mentioned so far?" Aaron asked, not wanting to tell Harper everything if he didn't have to.

"Take a look," he said turning on the TV to the headlines of his affair. "So?"

Aaron sighed, "Yes."

Harper took a deep breath and tried to keep his emotions in check, to keep himself from strangling the Vice President. "Right now, we are going to set up a speech from the East Room."

"For what?"

"To give you the opportunity to deliver a convincing mea culpa to the country. So this unrepentant thing you got going on, you better smooth it over with contrition ASAP." Harper then left the office leaving Aaron and Kirkman back to where they were before.

Aaron faced towards the window, "I truly apologize sir." After a small pause he turned around facing the president, "Actually I'm not."

"And why's that?"

"I'm actually sort of glad that this happened. Emily and I could be free to do whatever we want right now. That I don't have to hide them anymore. I'm not feeling guilty or ashamed, maybe embarrassed. But this is my family. I love them."

Aaron had appealed to Kirkman's perspective as a father. He knew where the younger man was coming from. "Aaron, as a father, I can tell you that not one person should ever feel like that they ever have to hide their family. They're your family. They're the people you lean on in times of joy and in times of pain." Aaron gave a slight smile, glad that the president understood where he was coming from. "But as president, I can't have this type of behavior and actions in the White House. So listen to Harper and address the American people soon."

Aaron nodded, "Yes sir."

He left the Oval Office and headed back to his office, trying to avoid both reporters and the looks of disgust from the staffers. Once he got into his office, he sat down on his chair and pulled out his phone. He had yet to call Emily to see how she was doing, knowing that it was probably worse for her.

He dialed her number and waited for her to answer.

"Hello?" Emily answered.

"It's me."

"Hi, how's it going over there?" she asked.

"Not so great. How about on your end?"

"Not great either. I've got about a dozen reporters outside waiting for my comments."

"Don't worry, Em. I'll fix this."

"I know. I love you."

"Still?"

"Always," she said, bringing Aaron some moment of relief that he still had her by his side. He hanged up the phone, clutching it tightly in his hands. He needed to do something as being cooped up inside all day wasn't make the situation any better. As he stood up to leave his office, his secretary walked in and handed him a file. He read it, his eyes widening and throwing the file down on his desk.

He barged into Harper's office with his hands clenched into a fist and was ready to throw the middle finger at him but was stopped by Harper's conversation on the phone to which Aaron hanged up for him.

"Excuse me?" Harper said irritated.

"What the hell was that speech?"

"That speech is supposed to convince the people that you are someone who just made a mistake. That you should be forgiven."

"Forgiven? They're going to forgive because I threw Emily under the bus? And I don't need to be forgiven."

"Have you forgotten about your political career? I am trying to help you here. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have anything. You would have stayed a nobody."

"Watch it, Mars."

"Do you have any idea what you've done to the Kirkman administration? We are barely trying to survive above water and now you've practically sank us. So you're going to say the damn speech and don't you go whine like a five year old child to Kirkman about this."

"I don't care. I'm not doing anything if it means throwing Emily under the bus."

Aaron stormed out of Harper's office, his rage pulsing through his veins. He tried to swallow his anger, walking off into a corner of an empty hallway to take in a few deep breaths.

Before the Kirkman campaign, Aaron used to cope with his feelings with overtime in the job and the occasional drink. But his system broke down after he was nominated for VP due to the scrutiny of the press, the start of his declining relationship with Isabel. Emily was actually the one who helped him manage with this. They were at a bar, discussing about him and where the campaign was heading. He told her about what it was like to have all eyes on him and that he could never have a second to himself. Emily let it slipped out that breathing exercises worked for her when she was chief of staff and suggested it to him. Of course, he scoffed at the idea of doing breathing exercises when he did that for every second of his life. But after things started getting worse, the thought why the hell not. Surely enough, he began to use it whenever he was deeply upset about something, whether it was about Isabel or when he had found out about Alex. This was one of the many times Aaron was deeply grateful to have Emily in his life.

* * *

**A/N: **Hi everyone, I wanted to end this chapter on a bittersweet moment because there should be a somewhat of happy moment here and there. Anyways I hoped you all enjoyed this and please review. Thanks!


	8. Chapter 8

It was now Day 5 in the battle against the press. Emily had given hope that she would ever be able to leave her home. She spent her free time either playing with Alex or watching or both. She wanted to call the President and explain everything to him but after talking to Aaron she got the feeling that he wasn't in the mood for any more explanations. She was watching for any recent updates when there was knock on her front door. After seeing who it was from the window, she opened the door, avoiding any of the reporters from asking for her comment.

"Thanks," Seth said, shaking off the effect of having many microphones shoved in his face for a comment.

"I should be thanking you. You're the first person I've seen in days who is not my daughter," Emily said.

"I would ask how you're feeling but judging from your previous answer – not so great."

She grimaced, "Yeah well I'm going stir-crazy. Please, Seth. You've gotta get me outta here."

"Look it's like gonna be awhile before things die down."

"Have you spoken to Aaron? How's he doing? We're trying minimize contact so we don't add any more gasoline to the fire."

"Ummm..."

Emily could sense the hesitation in his voice. "Seth, tell me what's going on."

"Apparently the President wants Aaron to make a speech to address this."

"He should. The longer it goes on, the more it looks like we're trying to hide something. Which we did."

"The issue is that he wanted Aaron to put the blame on someone else."

"Me? That doesn't even make sense. We work in the same administration. Was this even based on Kirkman's orders or Harper's?

"I don't know. But at the time, you were on the campaign team and you weren't chief of staff anymore."

"So what did Aaron say to all of this?"

"Of course he said no, which put him in more trouble. From what I've heard, he's trapped himself in his office for the past few days."

"Can I borrow your phone?"

"Sure but why?"

"I need to talk to Aaron."

Seth nodded and reached in his pocket for his phone. He then handed it to Emily, which she gratefully took from him. She dialed his phone number and waited as the phone was ringing.

"Hello?" Aaron answered.

"Aaron it's me," she said. She missed his voice more than she thought.

"Emily?"

"Yeah."

"I missed you."

"Aaron, you have to do the speech."

"What? Are you crazy? This would ruin you," Aaron said taken aback. He'd never imagined hearing this from her.

"I know, but you're the Vice President of the United States. Come on, your vice presidency is at stake here."

"I'd rather resign, which I offered but Kirkman wouldn't accept it. At least not yet."

"There's nothing else you can do."

"I don't care. I am not going to lose you for the sake of my job. I will be fine."

"Aaron, you're not going to lose me. I promise. Just trust me on this."

"I love you, Emily," he said out of nowhere.

"Does that mean you'll do the speech?"

"Give Alex my love, okay? I gotta go..."

Aaron hanged up before Emily could say another word. He sighed in frustration. He knew that Emily was trying to protect him but he was trying to protect her as well.

An hour later, Aaron received a visitor from the chairman of the DNC, Jack Robinson. He was a former senator from the state of New York. He was a good man, got things done and pushed for a better agenda. Word on the hill was that he was considering a run for governor of New York.

"I get the feeling that this isn't a social call, is it?" Aaron said as the two men sat down in his office.

"Not this time. Things aren't looking great for you."

"I've noticed," Aaron said sarcastically.

"I've been told that you don't want to address the situation."

"It's not that I don't want to, but I can't. Not the way the White House wants me to."

"Well maybe you should."

"What?" Aaron raised his voice. "Did Mars put you up to this?"

"Look, optics aren't great on it. And since you haven't released a comment, we are all assuming that the rumors are true."

"I don't care!"

Robinson sighed, "Mr. Vice President, can I be frank?"

"Go ahead."

"The truth is I came here as friend. But on behalf of the DNC, if you don't do this by tonight, we're afraid we're going to have to pull our support from your name."

"Excuse me? Are you threatening me?" Aaron attempted to remain calm.

"As you know, we carry a lot of support when it comes to election year-"

"-yes I know that," Aaron quickly interrupted. "Jack, we've known each other for a long time and you know who I am. If I say I can't do this, then I can't."

The DNC chairman stared at Aaron before he stood up and walked towards the door, "You're a good vice president. You still can be." He walked away, leaving Aaron in his thoughts.

Aaron sighed. He couldn't believe that everyone he knew wanted him to really do this. To ruin the career of the woman he loved. This was unbelievable. When he had looked over the agenda, he had noticed that the speech was scheduled for later this evening in the East Room. At this point, he didn't know what to do. He was either going to be ruining his own career or Emily's. Either way it was going to hurt him.

* * *

Emily had blamed herself for everything that happened. If she hadn't returned to DC, then maybe she wouldn't have messed up his life and put him in this impossible situation right now. She was doing perfectly fine in Florida. She had a nice consulting job that treated her well, giving her flexible hours to come home early to Alex. She was so glad that their daughter didn't understand everything that was happening. The little girl missed seeing her father, not knowing she hadn't seen him in days. The occasional fussing would turn into a full-blown meltdown that only her father could fix.

* * *

After much deliberating in his office, Aaron finally decided what to do. He called out to his secretary, "Linda!"

"Yes, sir."

"Call Secret Service. Tell them I'm ready to go."

"Where to, sir?"

"The White House," Aaron declared.

* * *

**A/N: **Hi everyone, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Please review! Thanks!


	9. Chapter 9

Seth sat with Emily on her couch as they received news that Aaron was going to be making an address soon. Her leg was shaking nervously switching glances from the TV to her three year old daughter playing with her toys in the corner of the room.

Seth took Emily's hand, "Everything is going to be alright, no matter what happens."

Emily sighed defeatedly, "No it won't..."

Emily's phone then rang, startling her as she jumped off her seat. She picked up the phone, "Hello?"

"It's me."

"Aaron?"

"Yeah."

She could hear the somber tone in his voice. "Aren't you supposed to be getting ready?"

"I know but I just wanted to hear your voice before...you know..."

There was a silence between them. "We miss you."

"I know. I miss you guys too." After a pause again, Aaron apologized. "I'm sorry about this, Em."

"For what? I told you this was the right thing to do. I can take care of myself."

"Are you mad?"

"Aaron, I'm fine. But do you want me to be mad? Would that help?" she questioned. She didn't want him to feel guilty when he could do so much more to change the world.

"No. I just don't want us to..."

She immediately read his mind, "We won't."

Aaron only had a few minutes left, "I gotta go. I love you both. I'll see you after this."

"We love you too. Good luck," she said before hanging up.

Aaron then appeared onscreen, his eyes staring blankly at the camera. Emily could feel his eyes were directed towards her. From the heavy bags underneath his eyes to the light stubble visible to the naked eye, she saw how tired he really was. The past few days have been more than disastrous affecting both of them in ways unimaginable. But now it seemed like things might now end as Aaron took hold of the podium.

Emily turned up the volume of the TV.

"Good evening, everyone," Aaron greeted. "I stand here before you all tonight to address the recent rumors regarding my alleged affair with the former Chief of Staff Emily Rhodes." What Emily couldn't see beyond Aaron's presence onscreen was that Mars Harper had just walked in the press room, which Aaron immediately clocked. He looked down at the speech in his hands, mentally slapping himself. How could he do this? He just couldn't. The entire press room was watching him with their glaring eyes and beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead. He looked to face the journalists and flashed them with a grin. "The truth is that I'm up here to ruin someone's reputation. But I'm not going to do that. I'll ruin mines instead." He paused, "The rumors regarding my affair are true." He heard the immediate gasps and pens scribbling along the notepads. "I take full responsibility as I was not the greatest fiancé that Isabelle deserved. But that does not mean that Emily or my daughter isn't my life. This was my fault and not anyone else's. That being said, effectively immediately I will be tendering my resignation as Vice President of the United States. It has been an honor to serve the American people. Thank you and God bless these United States of America." Aaron walked off on stage, ignoring the hundreds of questions being shouted at to him.

Emily stared at the screen, mouth opened and eyes widened. Did he really just admit to the entire world that he had an affair with her. A fury of rage and sadness wrapped around her. He sacrificed everything around her. She got up from the couch and grabbed her keys.

"Hey can you watch Alex for me?" she asked Seth.

"Ummm... are you okay?" he asked out of concern at her sudden request.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Can you watch her? I'll be back in an hour."

"But where are you going?"

"Don't worry about it..." She grabbed a jacket and a cap before walking out the door.

The reporters sitting outside saw her and immediately ran to go shove their microphones in her face. She pushed them out of her way, heading for her car. She drove off to the White House, barely being able to pass security with all the commotion outside. She went through the back door of the West Wing and raced to find Aaron. He still had to be somewhere in the West Wing. Eventually she found him, outside about to step inside his car. She called out his name and he turned around. She ran to him, unaware of the reporters standing ten feet away from them.

"Emily? What are you doing here?" Aaron asked in confusion.

"I, ummm... Why did you do that?" she said trying to catch her breath.

"Because. I just couldn't do that to you."

"What about you? What are you going to do now?"

"Well I just turned in my resignation so now I can do whatever I want. Including this," He leaned in and passionately kissed her, not caring about who was looking. She was surprised at first but gave in to the kiss, returning the same amount of passion he was giving her.

"Aaron..." she said after she broke off the kiss.

He held his hand, "Come on. Let's go see our daughter."

She smiled taking his hand and headed home. Maybe this was a good thing...

* * *

SIX MONTHS LATER...

Aaron was now (more or less) a stay-at-home dad. He was still active in politics, attending and giving speeches all around the world. After the news cycle about them died, they were finally able to walk outside their home without facing any journalist. Emily had kept her job as special advisor to the President, who was glad that she had not quit on him. Once a month, Emily, Aaron, Alex, Seth, and Kirkman would meet up for a dinner at the Residence. They would catch up about current situations and each other's personal lives. It was rocky between Aaron and Kirkman in the beginning, as Aaron wasn't sure on how to act around him anymore. But after reassurances from both Emily and the President, he managed to put his guard down and reminisce about the old times like everyone else. Kirkman especially loved seeing Alex, seeing her grow up to be exactly Emily.

"So how is the stay-at-home dad life?" Seth asked during their dinner.

"Nothing beats it," Aaron answered.

"Do you miss it? The thrill of the game?"

"Sometimes. But once you've been Vice President, nothing can beat that."

"Except being President," Kirkman chimed in.

Aaron nodded, "Except that. But I get to spend time with my daughter."

"That's all any father can ask for," Kirkman said. "It would be nice if Alex had a younger sibling as well. Someone to play with."

Aaron and Emily exchanged glances, "Well..."

"You're kidding, right?" Seth said in disbelief.

Emily turned to Kirkman and Seth, "Are you both ready to be uncles again?"

Kirkman got up from his seat to give both Emily and Aaron a hug, "Congratulations you too!"

Emily took Aaron's hand in hers, glad that her life turned out this way. Through everything, not once did she think her life would ever end up like this. She was grateful to have a loving and supportive husband, an amazing daughter who she was able to come every day to, a best friend who had always been here for, and father figure who walked her down the aisle when her crap father didn't. And now that she was pregnant, she couldn't be more thankful for her family.

_The End_

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**A/N: **Thank you everyone for reading this! I am so sorry for the late post. I've decided to end this story because I wasn't sure where I was heading with this. I might do another Emron fanfic, but tbd. Please review and PM me if you've got any ideas! Again, thank you for reading and the reviews!


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